Just One of The Guys
by NinjagoZ
Summary: AU fic. Jason is a former thief whose life was turned right side up. Going from a thief to a hero, Jason finds himself becoming somebody he never imagined- a ninja training alongside Kai, Cole, Jay, and Zane! With promises of his forgotten memory held by both friend and foe, he can't trust either side. Will Jason fit in and be just one of the guys, or will he lose himself trying?


**A/N: Only A Name is the prequel to this. that's where to get Jason's appearance!**

_Breathe in..._

Jason closes his eyes. It was scary to think he was going to be a ninja, who would fight Lord Garmadon alongside other brave men. He had to have courage, he knew that all too well, but he kept having a lingering fear of death at the hands of this evil man. When he reopened the brown eyes he had, he took the ninja suit from Wu... His new Sensei.

"Will everything work out well?" Jason risks asking.

Wu answers, "That depends on you."

"Oh..." Jason whispers.

_... Then breathe out..._

He slips behind a large boulder, pulling out into the suitcase he packs around, and then walks back to Wu, heart beating fast. He wasn't ready to be a ninja! Jason didn't know the first thing about anything, being a former thief, and having no memory. His black hair and brown eyes were the perfect shade, his skin having a glow to it's paleness. He follows along, being a shadow behind Sensei.

His eyes still on the monastery at the tip of the mountain of unfathomable height. Jason let his thoughts become of who he was going to meet, going to be. He knew there were lyrics in his head. He would never let them out in front of an old cripple, he thought, but it hurt to hold them in. He held his breath, keeping pace.

_Try not to cry, never be yourself..._

_You'd become that fool whose thoughts aren't there..._

"Sensei... Will the other ninja like me?" Jason thinks aloud.

Sensei bluntly says, "Probably not at first. None of them have a good personality for you, but everyone can manage."

_It was the last chance, your last chance to be forever..._

_The last chance to remember..._

Jason stops asking questions. The minutes turn into hours, and the hours turn into three days. He sees two siblings fighting, the boy with spiky brown hair, the girl with black hair. He almost laughs when the little girl throws her brother on his butt. Jason soon reaches the monastery, seeing three young men through a window in the wall.

One was a tall, muscular, and currently shirtless. His eyes were a dark brown, much darker than Jason's but he didn't have the highlights that made Jason's hair glow. He was doing push-ups at a ridiculous speed. If Jason was counting, he wouldn't have been able to keep up with it.

Another was a thin blonde with blue eyes, short in stature, and very much a shrimp compared to the others. Jason could imagine him reading books for hours on end... He was wearing a broken and hassled jacket, not affected by any heat. He was climbing up a pole, trying to reach the shurikens on the pole's top.

Then there was a young man with red hair and darker blue eyes. He was pretty strange, with an eyebrow that looked like a missing piece of a train track, yet Jason couldn't help but note his bright smile. It was constantly there, even as it was not logical to be there. His over shirt was unbuttoned, muscle shirt showing while he practiced using weapons.

_You're not even a person anymore, not even_ human...

Jason asks, "D'ya have a guitar?"

"In the music room, which is the first area on the left." Sensei says calmly.

Jason replies, "Alright... Let's do this thing."

Sensei walks in, and everything changes about the scene. The blonde slides down the pole like it was an emergency, alert and ready. The darker man with black hair was looking keenly at Sensei Wu. The redhead, who Jason decided was youngest, set down the equipment.

_To know fear is to drown in it..._

Sensei Wu says, "Ninja, I want you to meet your newest teammate."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Three is a special number, sensei! Three blind mice, three musketeers, three-" the redhead argues.

The black one interrupts, "Jay! Be polite, Sensei knows what he's doing! If he thinks a new team member is the best thing to do, then he's right!"

The blonde gazes at Jason before speaking out, "He has some advantages we don't. He is very tall, but he appears light. He also seems... Rugged."

"Rugged indeed, Zane. Jason, come here." Wu orders kindly.

Jason complies, and stands beside Sensei, unsure why he was so worried about what they thought of him. Jason looks at each of them, and reads their expressions. The redhead looked kind of excited now. The dark haired man seemed unsure, almost judgmental towards Jason. The blonde was quiet from the get go, and was now silent, and mysterious. Just as Jason was considering leaving, Wu spoke.

_Your blood is about to boil..._

"This is Jason, our newest ninja. He is your teammate, and will be treated as so. You should not chase him off with your anger, of all things." Wu explained, "I will let you speak with him now. Make him welcome!"

Sensei disappears, and the black-haired man starts, "My name's Cole. I'm team leader."

"I'm Jay!" The redhead yells.

The mysterious blonde smiles and says, "I am Zane."

Jason coughs at that. One moment, this Zane guy looked like the most uninviting person on the planet, then it changes and he's the sweetest person ever. Zane couldn't possibly be that way... He seemed so strange.

"Um, I'm Jason." Jason lamely says.

Jay hoots, "I'm gonna call you Jase!"

Jase frowns and mutters, "Okay, weirdo..."

"So," Zane wonders, "What were you? What's your story?"

_Don't be afraid to say what you need to, and hold on while you can..._

Jason freezes up. What should he say about that! He couldn't announce he was a thief out loud- yes he could. He knew there was no avoiding it. He would be proud of who he was, despite the fact it was a shameful path.

Jason informs, "I'm a former thief. I don't know who I really am, but I know I had no chance of surviving without help."

"Um..." Cole demands, "Did Sensei just imply we're no better than a thief?!"

"No! I-I..." Jason tried to retort, but he couldn't find words for his argument.

Zane states, "Cole. All Sensei did was explain, though not with words, that everyone has good in them, and Jason needed a second chance."

"He's a stupid thief! He can't even be good! He'll probably be the one to ruin us!" Cole shouts.

Jason simply whips around and stalks to the music room, slamming the door with a shout.

"And YOU, Cole, are a smug, overrated, thrice-damnable, and _**YOUR MOTHER WAS A HAMSTER**_!"

_You say what's wrong, you say what's right._

Jason quietly strums the tailor guitar, and smiles at the gorgeous sound. Forget humans, go for instruments! He suddenly wonders how he knew how to play the guitar, but shrugs it off. Jase quietly sings, but the others had pressed their ears to the wall, and they can hear.

"Take a moment to breathe in... Breathe out... Never be yourself... Don't let them see you cry... Never be yourself...

"No matter what I do, I'm always lost, lost, lost."

They all lean in and almost gasp. Then Jay falls through the door, and Jason smashes him across the face with a cymbal as he gets up. The dark haired man (who was actually 6 foot 7) stood above Jay's head intimidatingly. The glower and eyebrows pinched in worry were very effective, but the embarrassed blush countered all of it.

Jason snaps shilly: "_When I leave a room angrily it means I don't want to talk to anyone! Now, get in here, you two!_"

Zane timidly peers at Jason, then enters beside Cole. Zane had averted his gaze and bowed his head in shame, making Jason feel oddly protective of Zane. Cold was grinning like a devil, knowing that he could leak this stuff to the press to make Jason's life miserable. Jason was thinking about murdering Cole for that... He hated smug, uppity people who think they're the best! Then he thought better of it, and put down his own dreams.

Zane apologizes, "I'm sorry, Jason..."

They all see Jason's eyes go soft for some reason. It was all about instinct, had something to do with his past; if he was a big brother, then he obviously was the one who would happily let the sibling beat on him. He rubs Zane's shoulders comfortingly, and instantly Cole realizes there is more to Jason than he believed only minutes ago.

"It's okay, Zane." Jason consoles.

Zane nods, but doesn't believe him. After all, that was a mean thing to do, spying on Jason and all. Nobody could deny his talent for singing, but his nerves sure weren't going to let him get anywhere in the music industry. He was obviously embarrassed of his voice and ability, rejecting himself. Then they all sighed.

Jason asks, "So this is the life with you guys, yeah?"

"Yeah," They all answered, "It is."

"I'll live with it."


End file.
